welcome to a revenue addition of "taiwan outlook" this lets you hear the different stories. i am your host dr. wu ray-kuo. taiwan is heavily dependent on

foreign oil. it's it is how to balance and maintain energy security and how it becomes a top priority. on today's program, we are delighted to have a professor who is currently the minister of the atomic minister of the special guest to talk to us about energy related issues. >> thank you very much for the invitation. i am very pleased to have this opportunity on behalf of the atomic energy council to share with you. to ensure the safety. to the extent, much happened

two years ago. i willd never fo -- i'll never forget this day because march 11 is my birthday. anyway, right after the accident, the atomic energy council was more lysed to join the government emergency response actions. in the meantime, we launched a very comprehensive nuclear power can program. the major objective has three thoughts. firstly, in light of the

fukushima accident, we want to re-examine the compliance of the limit for each station in taiwan. we have three units in operation. each site has two units. we also have three units under construction. the second objective is to reassess the emergency response capabilities to the socalled basis of natural disasters such as earthquake, soon otsunami, typhoon, mudslie

due to rainfall. the third objective is to re- enhance our capability or defensive steps against the severe accidents. that is the three objectives. to elaborate when i mentioned about the basis, i would show you this figure to elaborate. the most important lesson we have from fukushima's accident is that it cannot be ignored. before the opera she met

accident, the fundamental -- the fukushima accident, the fundamental was that we have a very reached jeff process for -- a very restrictive process for review. also, all the safety features were designed with redundancy, diversity, and stats. before the accident, it was assumed that this can assure the energy. including the accident and so on. if the accident it does not

happen, the ideal however lindsay responsible that mitigate the consequences of the accident. the -- or is that we have a emergency responses that mitigate the accident. the experiences of the good shema -- focus shema -- fu kushima showed this was not the case. we have an announcement program for the case. we had mobile power sources and mobile water supply in addition to the existing constructive features and so one. also, a company developed a

process called " ultimate response guidlines." if the supplies do not work, it has to be prepared. the so-called ultimate response guidelines, to abandon the react tor if it cannot be avoided. the idea is to use -- i will explain this later -- or the sea water to cool down the react to or so there was no

radioactive material. the sea water might permanently damage the reactor. the standpoint is to protect the people not be property. >> of course. we have nuclear power plants that are designed safer than the fukushima power plant. you have explained right now all the additional safety measures that companies have been taking since the accident. with a lot of people, are these measures up to the international standards that are prevalent in many parts of the world? >> indeed. actually, about 6-7 months long

program, reassessment program, during this procsess we refer nt only to the fukushima experience but also to the employment majors from different countries. will her hewe refer to it. we also asked them to come down to do a stress test according to the european union specifications. we take good does from the other countries -- practice from the other countries.

from the stress test results this march, we invite experts to come down for a peer review for each of the stress tests of each plant and review the report. the other two weeks od pf peer review and the conclusion includes the process is consistent with the global centers. also, the re-enhancement program is consistent with global standards and with the specifications.

in responding to a question from the press during a press conference on march 15, a reviewer from japan also stated that the stations in taiwan could survive against the natural disasters. indeed. they are pushing toward the international center. >> i want to bank you forgetting as a comprehensive background about what happened after the fukushima nuclear accident two years ago that marred the safety measures that the safety council has taken in the last two years to try to strengthen the safety measures of the power plant in taiwan. we need to take the first break. we will be right back.

>> welcome back. i am your host. we will tell our conversation with the minister and chairman of the atomic energy committee of china. we will discuss additional safety measures they have taken since a good shema -- fukushima accident. you are the mentioned in addition to what you explained earlier, the nuclear power plant reassessment, we have additional safety measures in the design of the carbon.

do you think they are enough to sustain the nuclear power accident? >> yes. this is a comparison between the fukushima and the plan in taiwan. when the synonymy comes -- tsunami comes it hits the ground. that means the seawater comes from the intake. this is out without any building. they have a building to protect.

after the fukushima accident, this was requested to add more for what it takes from the building. we have an emergency generator. this is what it was hereby the tsunami. another thing is the level of our plan is about 11 meters to the level. japan is only about five or seven meters.

because of the sign on the height, it is now working in meters. we request this to change the watertight for the buildings. this is in addition to the generator. the fourth one as we have it on this level. we require them to have a seismic resistant building. the last one is this reservoir.

i mentioned this before. we have thousands of counsel. the highest point is about 100 meters high. the reservoir was not built for this. it is built for the season. they found out this is very useful. they can supply it with out any gravity. if you have that in japan it would supply the last one for calling the reactors.

these installations were way before the accident. i have been that we add more and water resources to enhance the level of defense in depth. >> with all these design improvements in safety measures that they have put into the design of the power plants in taiwan, a lot of people in taiwan may not be convinced. they may say that japan and taiwan are both located in the pacific rim seismic belt and because of changes especially during the months that they easily threaten the typhoons. there could be a lot of rain. how can we be in a better or

saved her position to protect the property or human life is a similar kind of accident strikes this in taiwan. how would you respond to that? >> let me talk about the earthquake. you mentioned that japan and taiwan are both in the opposite seismic region. that is why they were the only two which have emergency systems. during the fukushima accident,

this works because the reactor was scrapped when the earthquake happened. that means it was brought to the competition. the fukushima accident and the other both caused very severe damage. the consequences are totally

different. they do not have any radioactive materials. i can explain later. what i am saying is the real ause for the fukushima accident is not an earthquake. i explain how we enhanced the synonymy -- the tsunami resistant capability. let me take another example.

this figure shows that there were three power stations in japan there from the earthquake. there is another sign about 10 kilometers south. it is getting closer to the epicenter of the earthquake. the consequences do not have an accident.

the reason is they have a synonymy wall about 40.8 meters high. it is higher than these are not me -- dan d tsunami. the point i'm trying to emphasize is that this wall was dilts according to an assessment dilts according to an assessment before the accident

some say it is due to natural disasters. it is beyond the basics. it is not reality of the imagination. all these accidents have been analyzed by this risk assessment.

according to this risk assessment, it has the responsibility to change the safety. >> you said earlier even though the accident based on design should not happen but we should not ignore it. that is one of the very valid lessons we have learned. we need to take another break on the program.

>> welcome back to today's program. we will continue our conversation with the professor who is currently the minister and chairman of the atomic energy council.

a lot of people say that taiwan is heavily dependent on imported oil and foreign energy sources. i remember reading one statistic a few months ago that nearly 98% of energy used is imported. that is an astonishing figure. because of that i think a lot of people are concerned about energy security. what is the long-term energy policy? can you share with us what is the long-term energy policy of the republic of china? >> that is a big question. i will explain briefly how the

energy policy fukishima changed after the -- changed after the fukishima accident. there were 31 countries that have this. they all conducted reassessment and re-enhancement programs. most of the countries reduce their energy policy. there are 13 countries in belgium, sweden. they all announced the area.

the u.s., canada and so on and so forth including south korea and so on. they decided not to change their energy policy. they decided to proceed. what i am trying to say is that the energy policy is country specific. there are different resources and so on.

our energy policy was also revised on november 3. they can gradually reduce the to the generations next and also activity to increase the renewable energy. and then gradually toward the homeland society. i would say over it -- even

though they're responsible for the policy, they are trying to implement a so-called complementary program by increasing the atomic to energy to face the nuclear power plants and so on. to my own viewpoint they would increase insufficient ones. increasing the risk of energy security because of the renewable energies. this increased the uncertainty.

and that new energy policy, they also decided to review the energy policy once every four years according to three principles. the first is to avoid the power shortage and the second is to maintain a reasonable cost. the second is to be able to achieve the international reduction i would say it is a quick challenge to maintain principles if we decided to gradually phase out. >> one thing a lot of people talked about is the upcoming end of the year referendum on the

continued construction. this is something that has a lot at stake for the future of taiwan. especially the continued economic growth and development. this is something that is likely to stay on the front page news in the next few months. i would like to ask if this is the fact that something that is a deep-rooted controversy. the plan has been under discussion and construction for over 20 years. this is something that will likely be around for another half the year. what is the viewpoint of the agency?

what is your perspective on the controversy. many divide this into two parts. let's talk about the referendum. i know you have a plot in political science you know better than i do. the referendum is considered the resolution of the democratic process. i am not entitled to comment on that. in addition, the oversight, i'm

grateful to know the ministry will fails. it also enforces a scientific program. this is in the preoperational stage. this program has a dedicated group from experiences. it also includes the foreign advisers. the real enhancement team is to

reconfirm and operational -- the preoperational test. that will put all of the recovering to the topic. the regulator of the country, we welcome this action. it will enhance by its own region. the council is still combating its own oversight program. we have a long list of issues

including 75 small items. i have to be satisfied. to be the result of our reassessment program. this includes all the major thoughts that they had during the construction. the company has to convince them that all this resolution will withstand.

we will consider to issue it. >> we need to take the final break on our program. we will be right back.

ask welcome back to the part -- the final part of the program. we will wrap up his very fascinating conversation with the chairman of the atomic energy council of the republic of china. we are going to start off with a concern of over transparency.

nuclear power use has become somewhat of a controversial issue. some people are for it as it is inexpensive. some people are against it because the possible catastrophe you can cause. given the fact that this is a controversy, we're probably not going to see the end resolution or some kind of compromise in the foreseeable future. it is likely to raise a lot of questions. a lot of people raise questions concerning drug today's program. the root of all these concerns

is regarding the issue of transparency. how can government provide adequate and transparent information. this is something that is formulated on behalf of the people with consideration of safety protection first. had you just the issue that is very sensitive? >> the main duty is to ensure the safety of the people.

the first requirement is to oversee all these facilities. it is a confident basis kind of work. we are responsible for the public. transparency is very important. especially after the fukishima accident. i just came back from europe.

it is organized by the european union. one is transparency. one is international cooperation. they are talking about not only transparency to the public but also transparency to the neighborhood countries. how to come down from the transparency. i will explain very briefly. the first requirement is to pit -- is to put all the information on our website. that is what i have been doing. not only all the information, we

put al but of efforts to improve the language of the public can understand. we also can communicate with the local government on what we have been doing in overseeing. also we invite the representatives to join our oversight program. for example, this is building a facility for this.

we have arty conducted eight or nine types of public forums in the program to invite the local government and ngos to oversee the process. we also published articles for different public to understand what radiation is and how we deal with it after the fukishima accident. it is very difficult for professional to communicate with the general public. it is a long process for us. >> regarding the second point that was raised, regarding

international cooperation, throughout today's program you have mentioned that all the+ safety measures and protection schemes that they have adopted after the fukishima accident has been up to international standards. what are some of the channels that they have available with leading international atomic energy agency's? >> i just imagine that we bring experts to do a peer review. there would be another team from the nuclear regulatory association and the european union.

they will come again to conduct an independent peer review. we have assistance and regulatory authorities in japan to perform the inspection. they have already committed to send another team to do the preoperational inspection with us before this can be issued.

we have lots of international corporations. i think this helps. and the european conference they also advertise the importance of the peer review among different countries, among the regulatory authorities of different countries. >> for the remaining few minutes that we have, we're going to ask you a little personal. if you look at your career since graduating with a phd, never been a very distinguished professor and also being a university administrator.

now you are a government minister. all these different roles that you played, which when did you like the best and what is the reason? >> i will take professor. more flexible and more enjoyable in doing the research and communicating with students and so on and so far. the students are very outstanding. i learned a lot during the rears of research from my students. i do not dislike my job. >> good. >> it is a job i got five euros ago. the reason i took this job is

with my experience i think i can do something for the government. i did. these five years were actually easy. i think every person has to be considering the importance of its job all the time. you have to be focusing on the current job and doing it right. >> that is what you have been doing the lst five years. there are other people with equal qualifications. they may not want to join the government sector. we certainly encourage the commitment to public service.

thank you very much. thank you for being our special guest. i want to wish you all the best in the future. >> thank you very much. >> i want to thank you for watching the program today. i will see you next time. thank you.